The Pawns of Complicit
They underestimated the resistant force, fighting to die on the battlefield rather than resign to the repressive regime. Little was known about the resistance commander, a deviant with prowess and enfettering control over her men.
The Premise
Late in the afternoon, outside Orunla cave, the scorching sun had just begun to relax, paving the way for the subtle eastern breeze from behind Odu Mountain. Over a wide rock detached from the mountain layer lounged the cats, slouching outside the cave.
The two black cats lay calm on the rock until they heard the sound of footsteps approaching from the mountaintop. The male cat was more curious as its eyes glinted. It roared with a squeaky tone that scared the slumbering bats on a nearby Baobab tree. The entire republic flew into the sundown sky, forming a thick patch of cloud that shielded the sun from the earth. Darkness covered the land.
Beyond the clustered swarm of the fanged birds stood the peak of Odu Mountain. At 3,000 feet above water level, the dormant volcanic mountain towered into the clouds. The heat from the earth's crust formed a dense fog above the lake on the mountain crater. Its mists rise slowly, piercing the atmosphere like incense to soothe the space expanse.
A trod of feet was crushing upon the fallen leaves along the broad path that spiralled Odu Mountain. The approaching body was not particularly human in the real sense. Even with the features that resembled an earthly man, the proportions of his structure were far from mortal. Counting by human time, he could be over two hundred decades old. At a closer look, it wasn’t only his chin, covered with a shiny silver beard, that made him different. He was as beautiful as an earthly woman. Nine feet tall with velvet-smooth skin, his steps were agile and firm. His name was Affa, the spokesperson for Edumare, the creator of the Duwa people.
The cats leapt with excitement towards Affa, wagging their tails around him. Affa caressed the cats on the head as he spoke to them in a language humans could not decipher.
Affa did not have a family among the Odu natives. His acquaintances were the animal tribe who lodged with him in the Orunla cave. They ran errands for him and helped to keep the surroundings clean.
Apart from the two black cats, another of Affa’s close friends was Awooke, the eagle. The big bird soared down the mountain and landed on Affa's shoulder. Awooke sat on his right shoulder and the cats flaunted his right and left sides as Affa walked to the entrance of Orunla cave. At the gate, two massive gorillas paused their gossip to greet.
Awooke interestedly made a scream that called everyone’s attention to balloons of smoke in the sky over the western plains of the mountain. The rising smoke of incense was a familiar rite by the high priests of Duwa. Affa had expected the signal to come two weeks earlier. He could understand the disputes among Duwa natives to elect a new leader.
Probably, there wouldn’t be much bloodletting this time because the late king had an heir in place to take over the throne. Delamu be the next king if things go well among the Duwa natives. The rising incense smoke Awooke was hysterical about was a signal to invite Affa for the anointment of the new king.
The smoke was invoked by the six priests who represented the clans of Duwa, headed by Allawo, the chief priest. Affa would meet with the fraternity of priests later at night.
Affa had been in existence for longer than anyone could comprehend. The little known about him were oral tales told to generations of grandparents to their grandchildren, as told by their great-grandparents.
Affa had more knowledge of the laws governing the universe and the commands that caused the earth to exist. He was the implementor of Orunla's purpose for humans. Even as Affa lacked the power to create from nothing, Edumare had given him the control to alter the natural structures. He was second to Orunla, the closest to Edumare among the gods.
The First Encounter
Adisa was having the same dream continuously for weeks. The dream he thought best not to share with anyone. Not even his mother had Adisa share the wet dreams.
Long before his birth, his father, King Delamu, carried out a raging 'war of peace' among Duwa clans. He claimed the war was to unite the fragments of Duwa settlements along the coastline of Olokun.
Despite being a great warrior, Delamu’s son Adisa could not aim to kill a guinea fowl. The people compared the king's disappointment to a lion who gave birth to a cat. The people even doubted the queen, Nefara, was loyal to the king as the true father of Adisa. Adisa was the complete opposite of his father. He would broker peace where his father would sing war songs.
However, the Adisa had his role as the regent. He was assigned to enforce tax alongside his father's army. At age 17, his father enrolled him in the military school to learn the combat skills.
That was at a time when the Ogojan community became a derelict of itself. An average Ogojan citizen could barely afford a decent meal despite the region being the hot pot of the Odu resources. Hunger and child mortality soared to the highest bearable, forcing the Ogojan youths to protest and demand independence from the Odu kingdom.
King Delamu had underestimated the Ogojan youth rebel force who were fighting to die on the battlefield rather than survive to be slaves under the repressive rulership of the king. The rebel commander was a strange woman, Abessa.Little was known of the background than her enfettering control over the rebel army. Regardless of her prowess, the Duwa army advanced in the battles and pushed back the resistant rebels into a closed enclave near the Ogojan forest. Victory was in sight for the King Delamu’s army.
The final onslaught on the rebels was Adisa's first experience on the battlefield. He served in a regiment under a new army General, Akeeke. The battle was fiery, and the Duwa army had lost more men than in past wars. Adisa identified the faults in the Duwa army battle strategy and requested permission to intervene. He got the approval and selected a squad he led to reverse the rebel’s dominance.
He cornered Abessa and engaged her in the best sword skills ever seen by the army on both sides. At a time, Adisa lost the grip on his sword and expected Abessa to act upon it. But Abessa only smiled and held on for Adisa to pick up his sword and fight on. With a leg slide that swept Abessa off her feet, Adisa knocked the blade off her grip. The rebel leader lay on the ground, disarmed under the Adisa’s metal blade.
She laid still, not uttering a word nor pleading for mercy. Her eyes fixed on Adisa as if she were sending a telepathic message across to him. Adisa's sword was high up, ready to hack the rebel leader to death. Suddenly, he paused.
"What are you waiting for? Slay the demonic rebel!" General Akeeke screamed from a distance.
"No! I cannot murder the voice of a people!" Adisa disobeyed his commander’s order.
He relaxed his sword and helped Abessa up to her feet. They both smiled and hugged before Adisa pointed in a direction for her to escape into the forest.
"Go in peace, sister!" Adisa bowed.
"Your father will be mad at your complicit, Adisa!" General Akeeke warned him.
"This woman’s fight was noble. She fights, not to dominate like my father! She fights to liberate her people." Adisa justified his action.
"Chase after the witch!" Akeeke commanded the troops.
Between Abessa and the Duwa army, Adisa and his squad formed a barrier and were poised to stop his father's army. None of the Akeeke’s men were willing to engage the Prince in combat. They disobeyed General Akeeke and looked on as Abessa walked away calmly over the hills and out of sight.
General Akeeke kept the truth about how Abessa escaped a secret from King Delamu. When the king asked for Abessa’s head, he claimed that she committed suicide in secrecy.
King Delamu inquired about the matter through divinity. The response he got from the oracle was that Abessa was a royal bloodline from the king’s past dealings. She had returned to settle a score with Delamu but withdrew because she met the kind-hearted heir, Adisa. Delamu was pleased with the overall outcome of the battle and did not inquire any further.
It was the same Abessa who had been haunting Adisa in his dreams. What bothered Adisa most was that Abessa had appeared in his dreams and made love to him so many nights. Adisa has not experienced lovemaking in real life. As the crown prince, he was to remain a virgin until traditional rites to recognise his manhood.
A Dream Child
On the eighteenth moon after the Ogojan battle, Adisa was woken by a baby crying. He opened his room door and stealth through the corridor to the maid's room. He thought Denrele had sneaked a baby into the house without his knowledge. He tapped on her room door.
"Denrele! Is there a baby in there with you?"
He spoke through the door.
"What baby, my Lord?"
Denrele looked puzzled as she opened the door.
"Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to bother you. I thought I heard a baby crying. You may go back to sleep, please." He shut the door and headed back towards his room. He was about to open his room door when he heard the baby cry again. It was more prominent and coming from the little window down the long corridors.
Adisa walked cautiously down the passage and swiftly pushed the cedarwood window open, hoping to catch the impostor unaware. There were no signs of anyone in the courtyard. It was early dawn outside. Not even the guards were on parade. He returned inside to get his sword and opened the front door quietly. In the courtyard, he trod softly towards the security posts. His bodyguards were asleep on the floor of the security post, snoring.
He immediately realised the situation was fluid and he was alone without security. He doubted it was a good idea for him to have come out into the garden at dawn and became nervous. With his sword in position to slice even a fly, He scanned all directions for trespass. It was sinisterly quiet.
Then, he noticed a movement around the flowerpots on the pavement’s gratins. His blood adrenaline ran higher, warning him not to stray farther away from the front doors. The baby started to cry again, now louder. He sighed and recited a few verses of incantations for protection. Still edgy, he listened out again to ascertain it was not a result of post-combat somatic disorders. No, he was sure he heard right. It was the cry of a baby.
With feeble courage left in his guts, he tip-toed quietly toward the flowerpots. He looked under the shrubs and found the baby wrapped in an Aran shawl. At a closer look, the baby saw his face and stopped crying.
Adisa again smiled at the baby, and the baby smiled back. He picked her up and hurried back into the house. At the lounge, Denrele was there, waiting. He did not attempt to hide the baby from her. Denrele was his most trusted maid. The only person he would confide in besides his mother and the Army General, Akeeke.
"My Lord! It is a baby you carry in your arms!" Denrele annotation. She was not supposed to query the prince.
"What does it look like?"
"My Prince, but…" Denrele was cut short.
"Take the baby from me and keep her warm." Adisa handed the baby to her and headed to his room when an obvious question escaped Denrele’s mouth.
"What about the mother?"
Denrele paced briskly behind the prince.
"You will be the mother for now, and make sure nobody doubts you are!" He responded without turning back.
"Who, me? People will ask who the father is, my Prince!" She kept following closely behind the prince.
"If anyone asks you, tell them she is my daughter!" Adisa stopped walking.
"The baby is beautiful! What do we call her, my Prince?"
Denrele began to gain confidence as the prince's acquaintance.
"Dadeola! We shall call her Dade!" Adisa turned around and caressed the baby's forehead.
They were both startled by the loud banging at the front door. Adisa signalled Denrele to take the baby into her room. He drew his sword and swung the door open. It was his guards at the door.
"Hope you are safe, Prince!"
"So, you two care that much about my safety in your dreams?"
"It was not our fault, Prince! We were on parade in the courtyard at dawn. From nowhere, a mysterious woman appeared behind us. Before we could capture and put her in chains, she disappeared." One of the guards explained.
"Seems she has evil powers that can put someone to sleep."
woman look like?"The description matched Abessa, the Ogojan rebel leader who had been making love to the Adisa in his dreams. He discharged the guards to their posts and shut the door.